NEW YORK (AP) — It took less than a minute for a routine landing to spiral into a deadly crash Sunday at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. But the collision between an Air Canada flight and a fire truck crossing the runway was the culmination of a series of events that began much earlier.
The Associated Press created this timeline based on a review of air traffic control recordings and information from the Federal Aviation Administration, publicly available flight tracking data and the National Transportation Safety Board, including information it obtained from the jet’s cockpit voice recorder.
A late departure from Montreal
10:12 p.m.: Air Canada Express Flight 8646, operated by Jazz Aviation, leaves Montréal–Trudeau International Airport, two hours and 13 minutes late. By the time the aircraft reaches New York, it is part of an influx of late-arriving flights, including some waiting extended periods for a gate.
Issues on the ground at LaGuardia
11:16:42 p.m.: A United aircraft, Flight 2384, aborts takeoff for a second time because of an anti-ice warning light in the cockpit.
11:20:48 p.m.: “We have an odor on the plane as well here at this time,” the United pilot reports. “We are going to be going back to the gate, request fire as well,” using shorthand for the airport’s fire rescue team.
11:21:12 p.m.: Another pilot chimes in: “If that’s a sewer smell … we smelled that too going around the terminal there.”
11:22:24 p.m.: A controller asks the United pilot if it is a smoke odor. He responds: “No, it was a weird odor. I don’t know exactly how to describe it,” and says he can’t get ahold of anyone to obtain a gate assignment.
11:24:49 p.m.: The controller confirms there is no gate available. He asks the pilot, “Do you still need us to send fire there?” The pilot says yes, citing the odor.
11:27:44 p.m.: United 2384’s pilot tells the controller he doesn’t plan on evacuating the plane. The controller instructs the pilot to move to another taxiway.
11:29:54 p.m.: United 2384 makes a wrong turn and ends up in a different part of the taxiway, but the controller doesn’t sound concerned. “You can just stay over there … and we’ll have the guys go over there,” he says.
11:31:41 p.m.: United 2384 declares an emergency. The pilot says: “The flight attendants in the back are feeling ill because of the odor. We will need to go into any available gate at this time.”
11:31:59 p.m.: The controller asks again if there’s an available gate, telling the person he’s speaking with, “now they’re declaring an emergency. They want to get out.”
11:33:39 p.m.: The controller tells United 2384 there is still no open gate, but fire trucks are headed over with a stair truck if they want to evacuate. “Let me know if you do,” he says.
Flight 8646 is cleared to land
11:34:18 p.m.: In a routine step near the end of a flight, the air traffic controller handling approaches into LaGuardia instructs the pilots of Air Canada Express Flight 8646 pilots to contact the airport’s control tower, which will guide them the rest of the way.
11:35:08 p.m.: Flight 8646 is cleared to land on Runway 4/22.
Fire truck is cleared to cross
11:36:45 p.m.: At the airport, a controller asks: “Is there a vehicle that needed to cross the runway?”
11:37:00 p.m.: “Truck 1 and company, LaGuardia Tower, requesting to cross 4 at Delta,” the firefighter says, meaning he is requesting clearance to use Taxiway D to cross Runway 4 — the same runway where Flight 8646 is about to land.
11:37:05 p.m.: “Truck 1 and company cross 4 at Delta,” the controller says, authorizing the truck and other emergency vehicles to cross Runway 4. Simultaneously, on a different frequency, the pilot on the odor-stricken United flight reports that his plane has finally been cleared to go to a gate.
11:37:08 p.m.: “Truck 1 and company crossing 4 at Delta,” a firefighter in Truck 1 repeats, confirming that the controller has cleared the vehicle to cross.
11:37:11 p.m.: An electronic call out in Flight 8646’s cockpit indicates the plane is 50 feet above the ground.
11:37:12 p.m.: A controller tells the pilot of an outbound Frontier Airlines flight to stop on a taxiway.
Flight 8646 lands and collides with the fire truck
11:37:15 p.m.: “Sorry, Truck 1,” a controller says as Flight 8646 bears down on Runway 4/22.
11:37:16 p.m.: A controller then frantically tells the fire crew: “Stop. Stop Stop. Stop. Truck 1. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.”
11:37:17 p.m.: Flight 8646’s cockpit voice recorder captures a sound that investigators say is consistent with the plane’s landing gear touching down..
11:37:19 p.m.: Flight 8646’s first officer, who was flying the plane, transfers control to the captain.
11:37:20 p.m.: The controller continues, “Stop Truck 1. Stop. Stop Truck 1. Stop.” As he speaks, an alarm begins to beep.
11:37:25 p.m.: Flight 8646 slams into the fire truck. The cockpit voice recording stops.
Aftermath
11:37:45 p.m.: A controller tells the pilot of the next plane set to land to “go around,” meaning he should keep flying instead of landing.
The controller then tries to raise the pilots of Flight 8646. “I see you collided with a vehicle there. Just hold position. I know you can’t move. Vehicles are responding to you now.” Other rescue vehicles race to the crash site.
11:55:37 p.m.: The pilot of another plane tells a controller: “That wasn’t good to watch.” The controller responds: “Yeah, I know. I was here … We were dealing with an emergency earlier. I messed up.” The pilot says: “Nah, man, you did the best you could.”